NICB Wins W³ Award for Cloned Vehicle Story

 

NICB Agent looking at a GMC's windshield

Congratulations are in order to the NICB Communications department as they were awarded the W³ Silver Award in the Online Video - Public Service category for their cloned vehicle report. The video describes how an innocent woman in Lancaster, WI bought a used GMC Denali for $30,000 and for the last two years she has been enjoying its use. However a Carfax search found out the Denali was currently registered in Massachusetts and her car is a clone.

 

Investigation by NICB quickly revealed that the vehicle in Peabody was the legitimate vehicle and that the one in Lancaster was most likely a stolen vehicle. The vehicle owner in Lancaster was contacted and agreed to bring her Denali to the police department for an inspection. NICB Senior Special Agent Larry Burzynski confirmed that it was a stolen vehicle taken from Palm Beach County, Fla., in 2007.

Fortunately for the clone buyer, Wisconsin state law mandates that all new and used car dealers be licensed and bonded. If law enforcement confiscates a vehicle from an individual who purchased the vehicle from a dealer, then the dealer must make the buyer whole again. Since the buyer in this case bought the clone from a dealer and it was confiscated by law enforcement, she will not suffer any financial loss from the transaction. But in most other states, this same situation could result in the complete loss of a buyer's investment.

In its tenth year the W³ Awards received over 5,000 entries from Ad agencies, Public Relations Firms, Interactive Agencies, In-house creative professionals, Web Designers, Graphic Designers and Web Enthusiasts.

The Powers Behind the W³:

The W³ is sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA).

The AIVA is an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a "Who's Who" of acclaimed media, interactive, advertising and marketing firms. AIVA members include executives from organizations such as Agencynet, AvatarLabs, Big Spaceship, Brandweek, Code and Theory, Disney, HBO, Microsoft, Monster.com, MTV, Sesame Workshop, Victoria's Secret, Wired, and Yahoo!. For more information, and a full member roster, please visit www.aiva.org.

Anyone with information concerning insurance fraud or vehicle theft can report it by calling toll-free 800.TEL.NICB (800.835.6422) or submitting a form on our website.

About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to combatting and preventing insurance crime through Intelligence, Analytics, and Operations; Education and Crime Prevention; and Strategy, Policy, and Advocacy. The NICB is supported by more than 1,200 property-casualty insurers, self-insureds, rental car, vehicle finance, and auto auctions. To learn more, visit www.nicb.org.